But for newly named principal Graham Clark—unanimously picked on June 15 by the district board of trustees—helping a school continue on a successful course is a walk in the park compared to the school work he was doing last year.

From Feb. 10, 2003, until he returned to the United States this spring, the 38-year-old former Fremont High School teacher and assistant principal was Maj. Clark of California Army National Guard, assigned to the 223rd Military Intelligence Battalion. His primary mission was to gather "tactical intelligence" in the Sunni Triangle, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

Clark—an 18-year member of the National Guard reserves—was living under hostile conditions, in soaring desert heat that required him to drink a liter of water every two to three hours and with the threat of enemies nearby at all times.

"During the 16 years prior, I had almost never walked around with a loaded weapon, but over there, it was like that every day," Clark said.

Most of his time was spent talking with villagers in an effort to locate key members of Saddam Hussein's former government—characters depicted on the "Iraq's Most Wanted" deck of playing cards. He also searched for improvised explosive devices in towns and on the sides of roads, the same kind of work Sunnyvale resident Cpl. Bumrok Lee did in Iraq before he was fatally injured in May.

"What we wanted to find out was anything to assess the needs of the towns we were in, were there any people there that were going to cause trouble or did they have any needs," Clark said.

But when it came time for his battalion to do a community improvement project, Clark—who was executive officer, second in command of the group—decided they would build schools, in part, to ensure that the education was better than the previous Saddam Hussein­based curriculum.

Clark said they chose to build schools because if a free government is ever going to take hold in Iraq, a quality education—free of propaganda and gender or cultural discrimination—is necessary.

"The future of Iraq depends on how the young people come to view their country in the years to come," Clark said. "If they're going to be a democracy, the seeds are going to have to be planted in those young people."

The decision to help with education was also a result of speaking with villagers, who look at education as a top priority.

"What I found is that they have a high value placed on their education system. Oftentimes it's the only government facility in these towns," Clark said. "They wouldn't even have a police station, but they'd have a school. Each little village had something, because they valued the idea that everyone should be able to read and write."

After building or helping to build or upgrade seven schools—many of which had thatched roofs, pane-less windows and dirt floors—Clark said he gained a new view on the things that he worried about in his own life.

"It really makes you not stress over the little things that happen," Clark said. "You get to see people who have far less making a conscious effort to better themselves."

When the unit finished a schools' physical structures, they also had to locate teachers and administrators, a difficult task considering many of the most qualified, energetic candidates were members of Hussein's Ba'ath Party. Oftentimes, the most qualified candidate had to be turned away because of his past political affiliations.

Back at home, Clark was a natural choice to replace retiring Homestead Principal Al Montgomery. Clark first came to the Fremont Union High School District as a math and business teacher in 1997, before becoming assistant principal at nearby Cupertino High School in 2001. He transferred back to Fremont soon after and served as assistant principal there for the next two years before his deployment.

He returned from Iraq in March and immediately became a business services coordinator for the district office, but began applying and interviewing for the principal position in May.

"I really feel like in this part of my career, I want to be working more closely with students and their families," Clark said. "And [the students and families] at Homestead have a really strong community spirit."

Clark said he has the summer to get acquainted with the school and staff, before classes start Aug. 23. And while he's up against a steep learning curve, Clark said lessons he's learned in his experience with schools—in the South Bay or Sunni Triangle—have prepared him for his new role and any challenges he may face in the next few years.

"People can overcome more differences than they think they can," Clark said. "That's definitely something that I picked up over there."